Babies

[loafybones]

My yellow labs have been dancing for a couple of days and now she's got a bulge at the bottom of her mouth and there are eggs in there! The thing is, I've never bred fish before and don't know what i should be doing. She seems fine but is being chased a little bit by the dominant male afra.

Some of my other fish are dancing around aswell, the dominant afra and red zebras are going bonkers! Do all Malawi fish mate at the same time or something because all of the fish seem to be a bit randy!

 

[glolite]

Not sure as I haven't bred mbunas either. I think mine are all male anyway. but you could try this site:
http/malawicichlids.com/index.htm
Hope this helps.

 

[freddyk]

You don't need to do anything at all. If you want to raise them, just move the female to a prepared fry tank after about 3 weeks. After she spits, move her back to the main tank.

Mbuna are breeding machines, In an mbuna tank there are rarely fish not holding. Don't expect to raise all the broods from that tank unless you are prepared to set up lots of fry and growout tanks!

 

[yhbae]

Also, it is common for "novice" females to spit prematurely, especially if they are under stress (e.g. you trying to catch them). If this happens, don't worry - they will eventually get it right...

Personally, I'd recomend to let her spit the first few batches at their due time. Most will probably not survive, but it will give her the chance to get it right. Besides, the first few batches typically deliver small nuumber of frys anyways. I've received around 10 (or less) frys per batch for my Yellow Labs.